LONDON (Reuters) - The International Sugar Organization on Thursday raised its forecast for a projected global sugar surplus in 2017/18 (October/September) to 5.15 million tonnes, up from a previous forecast of 5.03 million.
The upward revision was driven by lower than previously anticipated consumption of 173.55 million tonnes for 2017/18, down from a prior forecast of 174.41 million.
Global sugar production was seen at 178.70 million tonnes, slightly down from a previous forecast of 179.45 million, the ISO said in a quarterly report.
The ISO estimated there was a global sugar deficit of 2.54 million tonnes in the 2016/17 season.
"The revision has not changed our initial view of the global supply/demand situation," the ISO said.
"World production is still expected to rise sharply by more than 6 percent or 10.470 million tonnes to reach a new record...on the back of massive production gains projected for China, the EU and India, as well as record production in Thailand."
The ISO said early indications pointed towards a high probability that the surplus phase in the sugar cycle would last for at least one more season.
"We still believe that the current fundamental picture does not look promising and a sustained rise in world market values seems rather unlikely," the ISO said.
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by Jane Merriman and Tom Balmforth)
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